


The Turn of Time (and the Hours to Come)

by AshAuditore



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Firefighter!Sousuke, M/M, Vampire Tachibana Makoto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshAuditore/pseuds/AshAuditore
Summary: After his all of his co-workers had headed home and on the eve of his birthday, Makoto spent the hours waiting for the new day to come so he would get to celebrate it with someone of great importance he had been spending time with.(A part of the Tachibana Makoto Birthday Exchange 2020 event)
Relationships: Tachibana Makoto/Yamazaki Sousuke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Tachibana Makoto Birthday Exchange 2020





	The Turn of Time (and the Hours to Come)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darkphoenix168](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkphoenix168/gifts).



From the fortieth floor, the streets below became merely specs and dots of all the colors man could create. Makoto watched as they moved from one direction to another, his head leaning against the window and his eyes focused at the world many floors down. 

Surrounding him was the lack of light and sound, with the former from the timed automatic lighting system installed to “cut costs” and the latter due to every other employee already clocked out hours ago. 

Makoto did not mind the company of his co-workers. But being drenched in darkness and silence was beneficial to him and people of his kind—similar to charging a phone. 

A chirpy beep originating from the right pocket of his pants took Makoto out of his trance. He reached down, and with a single tap the screen came to life. A text message from _Yamazaki, S._ to him, wishing him happy birthday. 

A chuckle was let out. Yamazaki sent the text too early, only by just a couple hours. Makoto replied back, stating it wasn’t time yet but he was thankful for the kind words—especially from someone he had been dating for the past couple months. 

They met on one, fiery night. The office caught on fire and firefighters were called in. Among them, Yamazaki was the one that stood out the most. Makoto couldn’t stop staring at him, and failed to deny his action when he was caught by Yamazaki himself. 

They talked a bit, ending the night with an exchange of numbers. Since then, hundreds of texts, calls and hanging outs later, it all progressed rather naturally. 

Among the seas of _Homo sapiens_ Makoto was acquainted with, Yamazaki was a few to know of the nature of his kind—and to not be scared of, even. Rather than a world-shattering reveal, it was a simple game of truth-or-dare. Dares often got more chances, but later on truths appeared onto the stage. It was sometime around midnight, and Yamazaki was mildly inebriated from gulping down beer.

Makoto disclosed the true nature of his species, in a quiet manner. The public at large had yet become used to his kind (and countless more, in all sizes and forms) walking among humans. Makoto was good at blending in—a trait passed down from the first generation of his family to the current one. 

Despite being under the influence of alcohol, Yamazaki was still well-aware of where he was. He gave Makoto a grin, not one of devious manner, but of amusement. Yamazaki further explained he had heard urban tales about “creatures of the night” during his younger years. He was never scared, but more on the spectrum of being intrigued. 

They finished the night with Makoto walking Yamazaki home, both of them giving a promise to call or text the other person the following day. Both of them did so, and continued doing it since then. 

Breaking off from staring out the window, Makoto went back to his desk with nothing else to do but small parts of tomorrow’s work. He switched on the lamp, its warm, orange light fending off Makoto from the harsh electronic light from the laptop screen once he turned it on. 

He opened a file, typing and clicking away. 

A small beep from his wristwatch notified him of the approaching of a new day — his birthday, more importantly. He hadn’t really been celebrating his own birth date for years — decades, even. Each year, he turned older — but only in the numerical sense. Every cell, tissue, muscle and bone in his body deteriorated slower than that of humankind — giving him a rather youthful look despite being almost in his 40s. 

The next day, in an hour or so, he would be precisely forty years old, with a face of a freshman college student. Yamazaki had joked about this, nudging Makoto at his back with his ankle to ask Makoto to give him some of that “Tachibana’s Secret to Staying Young”. 

“You wouldn’t like it,” Makoto replied, chuckling. 

We all had an expiration date. It was that Makoto’s would be much later than others — a matter of truth that had been eating him alive. At least, he had his family and those like him. But none of them were quite like Yamazaki. 

There would be just one Yamazaki. It would be simultaneously adequate and inadequate. Makoto would eventually find a way to co-exist with this predicament. Maybe not in the next hour, the next day, or the tomorrow after. Maybe, some day. 

He saved the file he was working on, making sure it was saved, and closed it. Hovering the cursor to a file below, he clicked on it and got some more work done to kill time. 

Another beep from the watch told him it was finally his day. He was now forty years old, two years older than Yamazaki. Any moment now, his phone would be ringing with notifications from friends and family wishing him for turning a year older. 

And he was certain among the first to do so would be Yamazaki. 

He was proven correct, as the loud ding originating from his phone was a notification of a text from Yamazaki. He unlocked the phone, being greeted by rather long, well-written words from the man congratulating him on now being a “certified senior citizen.” 

A small laugh escaped his mouth. Makoto re-read the text over and over again, with a kind of warmth unnatural to his kind traveling all over his body. He replied back with his own words of thankfulness, ending it with an invitation to his office. 

“I wanna show you something. Come stop by!” Makoto texted. 

“Will do! I’ll bring your fav food,” Yamazaki answered back. 

As he waited for Yamazaki, more texts and calls came through — of which he replied to all of them. He had short video calls with his family and a few of his human friends. This was nice. 

Makoto made sure the file was saved, once again, and turned off the computer. He got up, grabbing his dark-blue wool suit and putting it on over his white shirt. A black tie wrapped around his neck — neither too tight nor too loose. 

Yamazaki would be here anytime soon. Makoto might as well be prepared to leave the office. He was back at the same spot he was — the light from the phone screen illuminating the underside of his chin giving a flavor of enticing creepiness. His eyes switched back and forth between the city and the messages sent to him. 

Fifteen minutes passed and Yamazaki called Makoto to announce his arrival at the latter’s company. He went down to the first floor, smiling as he unlocked the door for Yamazaki to come in. The Lone Security Guard greeted Yamazaki and Makoto with a nod. They replied back in the same manner. 

The pair went up using a “private elevator”, allowed only to employees with a position higher than Level-C. Makoto was Level-B. He pressed the number of the highest floor. A small sign embedded next to the number read, “HELIPAD”. 

“I brought you this,” Yamazaki said, showing Makoto an ordinary-looking metal flask. “I think you probably know what it is,” Yamazaki added, with a small smile. 

Makoto didn’t have to ask Yamazaki to open it to know what it was. He could smell it right at the second the man took it out to show him. Makoto gulped, almost visible. A strong sense of hunger forming and bubbling within him.

The elevator reached their destined floor. A small hiss as the door slid open to reveal the top of the world. The chilly wind here blew stronger than the Earth below. Yamazaki rubbed his hand together to warm up a bit. 

The pair stepped out, walking right to the center of the helipad. 

“What do you think?” Makoto asked, hands tucked inside the pockets of his pants. Yamazaki hesitated, for his body had never experienced being on a high floor like this. Prior, the highest he had ever been was the three-hundred-sixty degree, rotating restaurant twenty floors below and it was indoor. 

“It’s--it’s nice. Kinda cold, though,” he replied, grinning. Yamazaki made an “oh, right!” face, handing the flask to Makoto. 

“All heated up for you,” Yamazaki added. He had noted and stored things he had learned about Makoto — all of the man’s likes and dislikes, preferences and so forth. 

Makoto thanked him, reaching out to receive the flask. He held it firmly in his hand — the thumb rubbing against the metallic surface of it. He opened the lid, bringing it under his nose to smell the scent freed from being captured. 

Breathing it in, Makoto let out a satisfying moan. The green irises of his turning peculiarly brighter than a moment ago. Yamazaki noticed two sets of canine teeth of Makoto’s becoming sharper.

Makoto looked even more attractive when he was in this form. Yamazaki had yet to admit it to Makoto, but it was likely the latter knew about it already. 

“Thanks, Sousuke,” Makoto announced, sipping on the liquid inside the flask. Sips would eventually turn into gulps, as Makoto drank the entirety of it in one go. 

He was hungry. But no more. 

Red stains plastered all over his mouth, making Yamazaki move closer and wipe it off with his handkerchief. Makoto expressed his concern about how hard it would be to clean blood off of it. 

Yamazaki reassured that it was no problem. 

Makoto smiled, wide and welcoming. Yamazaki had wondered about what it would be like to have his neck be pierced by those fangs. There were limits to one’s curiosities and Yamazaki had decided he would not ask Makoto about it until they were both ready. 

He handed the flask back to Yamazaki, and signaled to him of an action he had been waiting to do all night. Makoto reached out his hand, of which Yamazaki did the same in return. 

Their hands were now intertwined — locked and steady. Big smiles painted all over their faces. 

A loud roar as a plane flew over them to land in the city’s airport. In front of them was the city that never slept, pulsating with energy and electricity. Behind them, was the dark of night and the ocean. Makoto could, but Yamazaki couldn’t, see the small, blinking lights of weather buoys and small fishing ships out there. 

Above them were all the stars and planets, and all the gods and goddesses. 

“Happy birthday, Makoto,” Yamazaki spoke. A thousand lines of texts still could not compete with a simple combination of words and pronunciation, and a mix of honesty and the oh-I-love-you. 

Makoto gave Yamazaki a kiss or two, his lips touched with Yamazaki’s to exchange desires and thousands of words they could not think of at this very minute. Their noses and foreheads touched and their eyes closed for a little while. 

“Thank you, Sousuke,” Makoto whispered, saying Yamazaki’s first name with all the love in his heart.

The couple decided to sit down, gazing at each other and the world around them. Words became only an add-on when all they required was just the presence of another, and all the wordless bodily gestures one could do. Fingers on lips, hands cupping faces, lips kissing on the palm of a hand, and so on. 

Makoto Tachibana turned forty years old today. 

There was a certain fear he still couldn’t quite shake it off. 

For now, with Yamazaki with him, it seemed as if he had nothing to worry about. The future seemed distant, despite being hours away. 

Makoto had also planned to ask Yamazaki about moving in to live with him. Instead of having to wait just for one special day or the weekends, they could be doing this for a daily basis. He was sure Yamazaki would be as ecstatic as he was at the possibility of this.

But that could wait. Everything could. 

Time never waited. Yet, at this instant, it might just change its mind.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
